Football: Rapoza leads Whalers on Thanksgiving

New Bedford quarterback Mike Rapoza didn't get the school's single-season touchdown record, but he made sure his team got the win. Rapoza did a little bit of everything in leading the Whalers.

Laurie Los

NEW BEDFORD — New Bedford quarterback Mike Rapoza didn't get the school's single-season touchdown record, but he made sure his team got the win Thursday morning.

Rapoza did a little bit of everything in leading the Whalers to a 36-14 come-from-behind victory over Big 3 rival Durfee in front of a large Thanksgiving Day crowd at Paul Walsh Field.

Rapoza threw a scoring strike, ran for another touchdown, caught a two-point conversion pass, kicked an extra point and hit the go-ahead field goal to help New Bedford (5-5) beat Durfee for the fifth straight year and finish this season at .500.

"We won. That's what you want," an emotional Rapoza said after his final high school football game. "You want to win on Thanksgiving. The turkey is going to taste better."

Rapoza had needed three touchdowns passes to tie the school record of 17 set by Johnny Seed in 1997, but with the area's leading receiver Kevin Nunes sidelined with an injury, New Bedford's passing game struggled. Rapoza had some good chances, but completed just 3 of 12 passes for 74 yards and one touchdown — a 42-yard pass to Steven Azor. Early in the second quarter, Rapoza almost connected with a wide-open Makau King over the middle of the field with plenty of daylight, but the pass was out of King's reach. Rapoza also missed out on another scoring opportunity on a pass attempt to Corey Barboza.

"A couple of them I'd want back," Rapoza said. "That one (to King) and the post that I threw to Corey was over his head. That would have been another touchdown and that would have been three right there, but you know what, I'm happy. We won. That's all that matters."

The winless Hilltoppers (0-10) made the Whalers work for the win, leading 14-12 until 3:52 left in the third quarter when Rapoza hit a 34-yard field goal just inside the left upright to give New Bedford the momentum and a 15-14 lead.

"The ball wasn't on the tee so I thought I wasn't going to make it, but it went in by inches. I was like 'Thank God,'" said Rapoza. "That helped us out a lot and changed the momentum. We did good after that."

The Whalers went on to score 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to turn a close game into a rout.

"It's always good football on Thanksgiving and we got another good game here for about three quarters," said Durfee head coach Lajhon Jones. "We started fast, but we sort of ran out of gas toward the end. We didn't play as well in the second half as we needed to."

Following a failed fourth-down attempt by Durfee, Rapoza directed the Whalers on a 5-play, 51-yard drive that he capped off with a three-yard dive over the left pylon 38 seconds into the fourth quarter. On the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, Rapoza pitched the ball to senior running back Mike Lajoie, who threw it back to Rapoza in the end zone for a 23-14 advantage.

"The Rapoza kid kind of took over in the second half," Jones said.

New Bedford intercepted Durfee senior Quentin Souza twice in the fourth quarter and four times for the game. Senior defensive back Jared Tavares picked off Souza near the Hilltoppers' 25-yard line and returned it to paydirt for a 30-14 lead with 4:28 left.

"Our defense was slow at first, but once they got together, it was unstoppable with picks, fumble hits," Rapoza said. "It was awesome. That helped the offense."

The Whalers added a late score in the last minute of the game when senior running back Angel Lopez broke free for a 45-yard scamper for the final margin of victory.

New Bedford ran just seven offensive plays in the first quarter and two were for touchdowns — Azor's 42-yard catch and a 32-yard touchdown ran by Lajoie.

WHAT IT MEANS: With the program's fifth straight win over Durfee, New Bedford's seniors have never lost to the Hilltoppers, who last beat the Whalers (37-34) in 2007.

NEW BEDFORD HEAD COACH DENNIS Golden: "It's never easy. Their kids play inspired every year on this day and I know that. I've won some games against them and I've lost some games against them. Eight out of nine years I've been here, it's come down to the fourth quarter."

Jones: "It's a great rivalry. I'm proud to be a part of it now. It's important to me and it's important to our kids that we win and we're not going to stop fighting until we get one."

SOUTHCOASTVARSITY.COM star of the game: Rapoza had a hand in half of New Bedford's 36 points, throwing a touchdown pass, rushing for another score, catching a two-point conversion pass, kicking an extra point and hitting a field goal. The rushing touchdown was just his second of the season. "That play that I scored, that play wasn't for me," Rapoza said, "but I saw the defense and I knew I could beat one guy so I just kept the ball and ran in the touchdown."

TOUGH DEFENSE: After the Hilltoppers racked up 179 passing yards in the first half with a strong performance by Souza, New Bedford held Durfee to just 16 yards of total offense in the final 22 minutes. "They definitely stepped up," Lajoie said of the Whalers' defense. "We gave up two touchdowns in the first half and, in the second half, we blanked them. We did a solid job in the second half." The Whalers finished with four interceptions (Barboza, Carl Santos III, Cody Fumo and Tavares) and one forced fumble that was recovered by Tyler Jacobs. "When you turn the ball over more than three times in a high school football game, you usually lose," Jones said.

Injuries hurt durfee: Not only did senior running back Raheem Barzey play with a broken finger, the Hilltoppers lost junior linebacker Jonathan Torres and junior defensive lineman Codey Lapoint to concussions, according to Jones.

MISSING NUNES: With Nunes sidelined, the Whalers also had to fill a hole in their secondary and find a long snapper.

Pivotal sequence: With the Whalers trailing 14-12 midway through the third quarter, Durfee had appeared to convert a third-and-16 from its own five on a 40-yard strike from Souza to senior Spencer Borden, but Borden fumbled the ball and Jacobs picked it up and returned it to the Durfee 21. Four plays later, Rapoza connected on a 34-yard field goal for New Bedford's first lead since 12-8 late in the first quarter.

FAMILY MOMENT: On New Bedford's final possession, Rapoza was given a round of applause as he left the game and was replaced by younger brother Andrew, a freshman. The two shared a handshake before the older Rapoza walked to the sideline, where he knelt for a moment with his head down. "It's tough on the seniors, especially knowing you don't have the playoffs, you know it's your last game," said Mike Rapoza, who returned moments later for the extra-point attempt and ensuing kickoff. "Getting taken out and my little brother going in, that really hit me."

new bedford STATS: After being held to negative 14 yards in the second quarter and just 10 positive yards in the third quarter, New Bedford racked up 108 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter.

DURFEE STATS: Souza completed 13 of 19 passes for 179 yards in the first half and finished 20 of 34 for 199. His favorite target was sophomore Michael Correia, who caught seven passes for 106 yards and a touchdown.

NOTES: Prior to the game, the bands from both schools started a new tradition, performing together for the first time. They played "Over There" in tribute to the nation's veterans. ... As the final seconds ticked off the clock, some of New Bedford's players surrounded coach Golden and drenched him with water. ... Following the postseason handshakes, New Bedford's players ran toward the home bleachers and stood in front of the Whaler band, which played "On New Bedford," the school's fight song. ... Before the Whalers broke from their final meeting on the field, Golden told his seniors to go to the sidelines to pick up a rock and take it home with them. "Take a piece of this field with you," Golden said.